What South MS voters can expect Election Day: turnout, national candidates, local races
Tuesday’s presidential election has already drawn high interest, with long lines for absentee voting at South Mississippi courthouses, but voters will find other key races on their ballots.
Polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Voters unfamiliar with were to vote should be able to find their precinct by typing in their address here, or by calling their county circuit clerk’s office. All voters must present a valid photo ID. A list of acceptable IDs can be found here.
South Mississippi voters will find contests for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Mississippi Supreme Court and state Court of Appeals, along with local races for election commission and school board.
Interest in the election is high, which is attributed to the race between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Coast circuit clerks’ offices have been swamped with absentee voters, the clerks have said.
Two days ahead of the 2020 presidential race, the secretary of state’s office reported that 231,031 absentee ballots had been received. Four days before the 2024 election, the office said by email at mid-day Friday that 176,216 absentee ballots had arrived.
“We are not seeing statewide numbers as high as 2020,” said Elizabeth Jonson, assistant secretary of state and communications director for the office. “However, some counties are nearing their 2020 numbers, including Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson.”
Jonson also noted that every presidential election since 2008 has had voter turnout of more than 60%.
Absentee voting in person ended at noon on Saturday. Mail-in absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than election day, Nov. 5, and received on or within five days of the election.
On election day ballots
Mississippi voters might be surprised to find nine presidential candidates on their ballots because Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are locked in close race to become the 47th president.
The candidates are listed here with the same wording and in the order they will appear on Mississippi ballots:
- Presidential Electors for Kamala D. Harris for President and Tim Walz for Vice President, Democrat
- Presidential Electors for Chase Oliver for President and Mike ter Maat for Vice President, Libertarian
- Presidential Electors for Jill Stein for President and Rudolph Ware for Vice President, Green
- Presidential Electors for Randall Terry for President and Stephen E. Broden for Vice President, Mississippi Constitution
- Presidential Electors for Donald J. Trump for President and JD Vance for Vice President, Republican
- Presidential Electors for Shiva Ayyadurai for President and Crystal Ellis for Vice President, Independent
- Presidential Electors for Claudia De la Cruz for President and Karina Garcia for Vice President, Independent
- Presidential Electors for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for President and Nicole Shanahan for Vice President, Independent
- Presidential Electors for Peter Sonski for President and Lauren Onak for Vice President, Independent
However, Kennedy has dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump, while Ayyadural, Terry and Sonski are not on the ballots in all states.
U.S. Senate, House races
Each state has two senators who serve six-year, staggered terms. The 2024 ballot features two candidates:
- Ty Pinkins, Democrat
- Roger F. Wicker, Republican
Wicker, the incumbent, was elected seven times to serve in the U.S. House, beginning in 1994, and was appointed in 2007 by Gov. Haley Barbour to fill Trent Lott’s unexpired term in the U.S. Senate. Wicker had previously served as a state senator.
Pinkins, a veteran of the U.S. Army who served in Iraq, ran in 2023 for secretary of state, garnering 40.5% of the vote against Republican incumbent Michael Watson, who won with 59.5%.
Both Pinkins and Wicker have law degrees.
Voters also will find a race on the ballot between candidates vying for a two-year term in the U.S. House. The candidates, as listed:
- Mike Ezell, Republican
- Craig Elliot Raybon, Democrat
Ezell was elected to his first term in 2022, defeating incumbent Steven Palazzo. Ezell previously served as Jackson County sheriff and spent 40 years in law enforcement. Raybon has worked as a nonprofit director and professional truck driver, according to ballotpedia.
Judicial races on ballot
State judicial races are nonpartisan, so no parties are listed with the names of those running for the state Supreme Court, which has nine members and is the state court of last resort. Supreme Court races are staggered for eight-year terms so that all seats are not open at the same time.
Justices are elected from three districts. In South Mississippi this year, the race is for District 2, Position 2.
Candidates as listed on the ballot:
- Dawn H. Beam
- David P. Sullivan
The Court of Appeals was created to ease a backlog of appellate cases. The Supreme Court assigns to the eight-member appellate court cases where the law is established but facts are in dispute. The appeals court has 10 judges elected to staggered terms from five districts.
The South Mississippi race is for the District 5, Position Two seat. Candidates, as listed on the ballot:
- Ian Baker
- Jennifer T. Schloegel
- Amy Lassitter St. Pe’
Local elections in MS Coast counties
Contested races for local offices are listed as they appear on the ballots for each county.
In Harrison County, voters will find on their ballots the following contested races:
Election Commissioner, District 1
- Toni Jo Kuljis Diaz, Republican
- Anna M. Gines, Democrat
Jennifer Smith in District 3 and Carolyn Handler in District 5 face no opposition to serve on the Election Commission.
Pass Christian Separate School District has one race for the Board of Trustees:
- Angela Fortenberry, Nonpartisan
- Cecil Lizana, Nonpartisan
Incumbents David Ladner, District 3, and Barbara J. Thomas, District 4, are unopposed for nonpartisan seats on Harrison County’s school board.
Jackson County voters will find only one contested local race on their ballot. The race is for the Ocean Springs school board. Candidates on the ballot:
- Clayton Russell, Independent
- Kacee T. Waters, Independent
In the only other local race on the ballot, Debra Loris Hodges is running unopposed as an independent for the District 3 Election Commission seat.
In Hancock County, three candidates are running unopposed on ballots for nonpartisan Election Commission seats. They are Reba Perry McCaleb, Commissioner 1; Eugene Joseph ‘E.J.’ Bice, Commissioner 3; and Breezy Bice, Commissioner 5.
School board candidates in Hancock County are also running unopposed in nonpartisan races. The candidates are Kodie Koenenn, District 3; Jennifer Seal, District 4; and Mike Bell, Waveland.
This story was originally published November 4, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
